T’puram: Malayinkeezhu Police on Friday formally arrested a 29-year-old woman for allegedly killing her one-year-old daughter at Vilavoorkkal on Thursday. The accused, Christy Thomas, is under treatment at the govt medical college hospital after consuming several paracetamol tablets in a suspected suicide attempt.Thomas was formally arrested while in police custody at the hospital after she confessed to killing her daughter, Evana alias Anna. Thomas was booked under Section 103(1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder. However, the exact motive behind the killing is yet to be established.According to police, Thomas said she had been facing family pressure. Police are examining whether the alleged pressure was connected to the killing.A police source said Thomas’s health condition remained weak and that she weighed around 38kg. She had consumed several paracetamol tablets after allegedly attacking her daughter, in what police suspect was an attempt to end her life. The effects of the overdose were still present and doctors advised continued treatment.Though her formal arrest was recorded on Friday, Thomas will continue to remain at the hospital until doctors certify that she is fit to be taken into custody for further legal proceedings, police said.The child was allegedly attacked with a knife inside the family’s bedroom between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on Thursday. Relatives rushed Evana to a nearby primary health centre and later to SAT Hospital, where she was declared dead. Police recovered the knife allegedly used in the crime from the bedroom.Meanwhile, the child’s body was handed over to relatives after postmortem. The funeral was conducted at the family home at 5pm.Police said further investigation is under way to establish the exact motive and circumstances surrounding the child’s death.
